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Palm Desert: trying to be green in a different way

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 27, 2007 at 11:14 pm

Here’s a very interesting article from the San Jose Mercury News that discusses Palm Desert’s efforts to become ‘a model for energy use’:

In a region where temperatures can stick above 110 degrees for days on end, fights erupt in parking lots over the last shaded spot and air conditioning use is so high that summertime utility bills can soar to $2,000 a month. Faced with rising utility costs, the city has been quietly working to cut its electricity consumption and, with the blessing of state energy regulators, recently accelerated those efforts.

The city is seeking to reduce its energy use by 30 percent over the next five years. State regulators have committed $14 million to a demonstration project, on top of more than $50 million the city already receives for various energy-efficiency projects. In return, they are asking that Palm Desert devise a model that can be applied to communities across the state. …

City officials recognize that energy use and water consumption—and the rising expenses associated with them—will remain among their most pressing problems if temperatures continue to climb and water shortages in the Southwest persist, as expected.

“The high cost of energy is a wonderful motivator—it’s called pain,” said Patrick Conlon, who heads Palm Desert’s newly created Office of Energy Management, charged with reducing the city’s energy use. “What we’re finding is that not everyone is buying into the ecological message, but they’re certainly buying into the economic message.”

Palm Desert’s efforts are to reduce energy use and water use in all ways possible, including solar panels, encouraging the use of commuting using electric golf carts, and pushing for replacement of aging air conditioners and pool pumps. Regarding water use, the article had this to say:

[Regarding water], Palm Desert began considering conservation after city leaders visited Phoenix in the 1980s and has been promoting it ever since. The city requires that landscaping in new developments use even less water than the guidelines of the local water district. Drip irrigation systems using recycled water have replaced sprinklers along sidewalks and in street medians—a move that cuts water use 40 percent.

Developers must use drought-tolerant plants in front yards, a citywide mandate that has produced an unexpectedly colorful palate of yellow and red Mexican birds-of-paradise, feathery cassia and soft green yucca. The requirement also extends to golf courses, where sand traps and cactuses are plentiful. The city’s book on recommended landscaping has since expanded from 60 different types of plants to 300.

“They came back and made a decision to quit apologizing for the desert and to quit creating paradise in the desert,” said Spencer Knight, the city’s landscape manager.

To read the full text of this article from the San Jose Mercury News, click here.

July 27, 2007 · Filed Under Drought Tolerant Landscaping, Great Green Ideas